


Friendly Persuasion

by Addira



Series: Faded Au [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: And no one dies, Blood and Injury, F/M, Identity Reveal, Yin yang effect au, based on friendship and how clueless Adrien and Marinette are, because no, because this is a prequel!! YAS, double reveal, faded au, having some shenanigans with the gang when they are all happy and together, on hiatus!!, pre-reveal, so its rated T for most of the first chapters but it gets mature near the end, this covers the prequel time and a bit of the epilogue, this should be a fun adventure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-09 01:56:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8871226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Addira/pseuds/Addira
Summary: Set before the story "Faded" where Ladybug and Chat Noir are physically connected. Marinette and Adrien have successful avoided being uncovered for so long, their identities somehow still hidden. That is until one fateful day where both Marinette and Adrien get discovered on the same day. What will this mean to Paris' heroes? Will their secret bring unforeseen problems with their immediate group of friends? Will their secrets create a wedge between them and their best of friends?! What about the stresses of owning and managing the newly opened Ladyblog store? Why was Nino in broad daylight when there was an akuma? Is there an explanation for Marinette's weird premonition dream?? This Prequel to Faded will address all of these and more!





	1. And so it Begins

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel so you don't need to read the story this introduces, but Faded is quite good and it'll be like Star Wars prequels in a way, you'll be able to see how it all comes together! Enjoy :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * currently on hiatus 2016 - 2018. Waiting on Season 2 content + interest on my part *

Most college libraries of Paris have a strict no cellphone rule, that is except for the Library in the Francoise Dupont college. Their librarian quit after being akumatised, claiming that the school was a centre for evil and criminals. She was always a weird person, even by French standards. 

 

So when a new librarian was hired and ripped off the 'no cellphone rule', every student rejoiced. This no cellphone rule came in quite handy when akumas would strike. Since then students were always charted to the Library if there was an akuma in the neighbourhood, the new right to use cellphones was considered to be some sort of godsend. The French School Board decided that this course of action was better since the previous system of "Run away! Go home!" Caused a lot of students to have lower grades and students were shamelessly skipping school claiming there was 'an akuma'. 

Nino wasn't one of those people, maybe a year ago he would have skipped but now he stayed at school and worked on his music and followed the fight on the Ladyblog from the Library. In fact students so often went to the Library during akuma fights that the Ladyblog was often projected up on the white wall as if their heroes were the normal evening news broadcast. 

That day's akuma was a short one though, something about a police officer tired of being catcalled for eating too many donuts had a particularly bad day at work. His akumatized form was almost comical: he was a big donut rolling down the streets of Paris. Apparently he managed to break a few feet as he'd roll down the streets with maniac giggles. 

You could see Chat's glee from the footage, he wasn't exactly taking that particular akuma as seriously as some of the others. In fact Nino even snickered when he overheard Chat yell out " _Donut_ do this Officer!" At the top of his lungs, followed by the most disappointed sigh Ladybug had ever let escape her lips in recorded history.

'Just another day in Paris.' Nino smiled as the fight ended and Alya turned to feed to close the video with her signature "Restez connecté!" tag line at the end. 

There was one thing that always annoyed Nino though, something he could never quite explain. 

Everybody else took this time to chill with friends or make up impromptu study sessions or just goofed off during the akuma time, but Nino always found himself alone. Adrien was always gone, hiding somewhere or at the bathroom, Marinette was gosh knows where (probably staying close to Adrien -- it's what Nino hoped she was doing) and Alya was always in the thick of it alongside their heroes. 

Nino tried to make himself believe that he didn't mind, that this was his alone time and that he should be content with that but the more Akumas that happened the more he always wound up alone and wished he was with his friends spending this time together. 

Nino wasn't a needy guy.  
He prides himself on how little people actually need to pay attention to him, it's why he and Adrien were such good friends and why he and Alya were so strong together. Nino was never pissed or miffed that Adrien had a busy schedule, he would be there when it mattered and even though Nino wasn't technically allowed inside Adrien's gigantic mansion, the same cannot be said for Adrien visiting Nino when he manages to lose his bodyguard. 

And as for Alya, he never held her back from chasing down the heroes during their confrontations with Akuma. Once they were eating out at a busy restaurant, a date they had actually called reservations for and planned a week ahead, and at that very moment there was an akuma. Nino didn't even think twice about it as he grabbed Alya's hand and they began to run towards the fight so she could get some good shots in. They ended up eating a lot of fast food that night, and Nino got a lot of _attention_ afterwards. 

Lately Nino realized that his life kind of evolved around the Akumas. His girlfriend was always looking for them and had a hard-on for Ladybug (a worthy adversary for Alya's love - he knew this coming into their relationship), Adrien would get days where all he could think of was Ladybug, and Marinette sometimes reminded him of her - with the pigtails and stuff. Adrien can try to deny it but he's a hopeless Chat Noir fan too, Nino had caught him laughing too hard multiple times at Chat's puns that honestly weren't really that funny. He still didn't think that "Spots is the Cat's meow" was that funny, however it would make a good shirt to sell on the Ladyblog. In fact it was legitimately something Chat had said once; the first thing Nino woke up to that morning was a post on the Ladyblog entitled, "Things Chat Noir has Actually Said" which contained cringe worthy puns and wordplay too clever to have been invented on the spot or during a fight, which insinuated that Chat planned them out somehow. 

'Heh. On the spot.' Nino thought with a grin. 'Adrien probably already thought of that one but he'd be proud.' Nino's phone buzzed in his jean pocket and he smiled as he saw who it came from. 

'Speaking of the devil.'

Adrien: "Mental note: never leave school grounds during an akuma fight on a Monday." 

Nino: "Dude where did you end up this time? Last Monday you travelled pretty far."

Adrien: "Farther than last time. Saw Alya too." 

Nino chuckled at that. The last akuma managed to carry Adrien halfway across the city. He said that as soon as he stepped out to talk to the Gorilla he always gets swooped into moving crowds and can't exactly break free until they've travelled quite a ways away. But that's just Adrien for you, too polite to cut through and get out of said crowds so instead he just stays for the ride. 

Nino was pretty sure Adrien legitimately enjoyed walking about, seeing Paris through his own eyes instead of in the shadow of the Gorilla, and for that Nino never said anything. He didn't know why Adrien felt the need to justify why he always disappeared but Nino never pried. He was his bro, not his babysitter. 

Instead he would be the best friend his sheltered bro could ever want. And the best wingman for Marinette at the same time. 

Nino: "So how did the fitting go yesterday at Marinette's? Did Mari break out the good stuff??"

Adrien: "She did! Nino you should have seen the accuracy. The spots are all in the right place, the red is the exact same and the Ladyblog accessory items you helped acquire had Alya in tears."

Nino smiled, his heart beating a little faster. Alya had always loved dedicating time to her blog, she would be touched to have her logo on official merch. Besides there had been a growing demand for official Ladyblog merch as well as Ladybug and Chat Noir inspired clothing on the market, Nino just wanted to throw in his grain of salt to help out with Alya's blog fame. 

He had managed to acquire a discount of off a printing company that Ladybug and Chat Noir had saved from an akuma once, he played that particular angle to encourage the manager and owner to be open minded to doing business with young adults. Alya charmed her way to seal the deal and now they were set. 

The Ladyblog could sell anything. Socks, shirts, snap bracelets, charms, headphones, earphones, hats, beanies, scarves, ... Anything and everything for a relatively cheap price. But of course the items that were the most in demand were the Marinette specials which were the Ladybug and Chat Noir inspired line. 

Nino: "I can't wait to order a ton of stuff. Including the headphones. Even though mine are better." 

Adrien: "Don't you want a picture before you buy a thousand of them? We modelled them so wonderfully." 

Nino snickered as he could imagine just how much goofing off occurred.

Nino: "Alright then. Let's see you in action then, sunshine boi."

There was a pause before numerous pictures were received on Nino's phone. He snickered as he opened them. 

The first picture was professional with Adrien and Alya standing side by side leaning on each other gently, Adrien's arm was casually draped on Alya's shoulders and his other hand was loosely holding onto his belt loop by his thumb. His expression was peaceful, his gaze looking away in the distance, with a small self-indulgent smile. The kind that Nino knew translated to Adrien dreamily saying "Ladybug is so cool..." with a swoon.

Beside him, Alya had her hand on her hip and her other holding her phone which had a beautiful spotted reinforced Ladyblog phone case, accompanied by her age old ladybug charm that she refused to ever part with no matter how many charms she was given over the years. She also had the newly arrived Ladyblog hat and beanie (that Adrien had been excited for), that they wore in the shoot respectively. They each had the three bracelets, the three different Ladyblog styles offered: one for the Ladyblog one for Ladybug and another for Chat Noir. 

Alya looked like she was buzzing with joy, she dawned on her biggest smile that screamed "Look I've got merch!". 

The next pictures were of Adrien and Alya tormenting poor Marinette and seeing how red they could make her blush, including a certain picture where Adrien held Marinette's hand in his and kissed her knuckles, he was wearing the Chat Noir pun shirt and Nino supposed he was just getting in character, but his devilish smirk had Nino's smile widen. Adrien was a _tease_ , and Marinette was as red as a tomato almost as red as the spotted Ladybug dress she and Alya wore. 

Another had Marinette bashfully hiding in the spacious Chat Noir hoody which had Alya in tears on the floor and had turned Adrien flush red. 

Nino: "I see you turned on your Chat Noir flair. *suggestive winky face*

Adrien: "She was bright red when we left too actually. I thought she might've actually combusted had I gone any further." 

Nino snickered. 'I bet that if you kissed her for real she actually would.' He wanted to send, instead he wrote: "You know how she is man. She loves everything from the Agreste line. *good shit*!"

Adrien: "the *Gabriel* line Nino. Alya's right, you are hopeless! *winking cat emoji*"

Nino: ":O. Dude. Bro. Conspiring with my girl I see (again). I see how it is." 

Adrien: "it can't be helped man. Besides, last time we surprised you with Jagged Stone tickets and if I remember correctly (which I do) you really seemed to like those. I have photographic proof."

Nino: "I disagree. Marinette was involved in obtaining those VIP tickets. It was a group effort. Thanks to her you got both Jagged Stone's and Penny Rolling's signatures."

Adrien: "I remember. *heart eyes* that show was amazing. Marinette is a boss!"

Nino smirked, he liked where this conversation was headed. Adrien quickly added another text soon after. 

Adrien: "After my exclusive ladybug figurine, that CD case is my most prized possession."

Nino: "Don't you have an authentic vintage pacman arcade machine"

Adrien: "You can't put a price on emotional value Nino." 

Nino: "Took the words right out of my mouth. :'] I'm so proud."

Adrien: "*picture sent*"

Nino smiled as he saw what Adrien called the picture: "prizedpossession#2.jpeg"

It was the CD. With three signatures. Jagged Stone, Penny Rolling and ... Marinette's? 

'Oh Right!' Nino remembered seeing Adrien stare at the CD casing for the entire afternoon after the whole Jagged Stone thing. Nino's smile only increased when his eyes spotted the little heart above the i that Marinette snuck into her signature. 

Adrien: "Marinette's the best. *happy crying emoji* *angel face emoji*" Was Adrien's simple reply. Nino's smile instantly dropped at those words. 

'I'm so sorry he's blind Marinette.' Nino thought dejectedly. 'Our sneaking around and behind the scenes planning isn't getting you anywhere.' 

Nino cracked his neck as his fingers began to furiously type. And erase. And type again, dropping his previous trail of thought that would surely get him murdered. _Just kiss already_ was not a worthy wingman message to send just yet. Nino liked to think that he had a little bit more tact than that. 

Nino: "Speaking of how awesome our friends are, you missed the group assignments for our French project."

Adrien: "Madame Bustier already assigned teams?" 

Nino: "This morning. But you three missed it so I have all the power right now." 

Adrien: "Marinette and Alya missed it too?" 

Nino: "Yep. So because you guys couldn't help me hold down the fort she chose for us. Not that it made much of a difference but you are partnered with Alya. Marinette was assigned with me." 

Adrien: "I'm surprised Chloé didn't throw a fit about not being with me." 

Nino: "What makes you think she didn't?" 

Adrien: "Touché. I'm nearing the school now. I'll be there soon." 

Nino: "Cool! Shall I await your arrival at the front gates my liege?" 

Adrien: "T'would be much appreciated Serah Lahiffe." 

Nino snickered as he heard the bell ring, a smile on his features. 

Adrien: "oh hey Marinette mentioned yesterday that she needed your size to give you early access to the Ladyblog shirts. You can try them on in my locker anytime!"

Nino: "What's your locker combination again?" 

Adrien: "7-17-27"

Nino: "*thumbs up emoji*"

\--//--//--//-- 

Adrien never did show up at the front doors of the school. Another akuma appeared, this one was apparently tougher than the other one early in the morning so Alya was out even longer and missed the second period and all of lunch. So did Adrien and Marinette. In fact they missed the entire day. 

Alya: "Nino I'm so sorry! I know I said I'd show you all the pictures from last night during lunch but I swear I'll make it up to you! Could you please put my booklet and Marinette's in my locker please? I seriously owe you!!"

Nino almost wanted to ignore the texts he was getting. He was in a good mood that morning in the library but now he was just bitter. 

He couldn't go to the Ladyblog shoot since he was held up at the studio where he is a PA over the weekends. He wasn't mad that he couldn't go to Marinette's and have fun with them but rather he was sad, sad that he'd missed out again. They all promised they'd tell him every detail of the shoot, yet there he was _alone_ on the following Monday, two or three akuma later. 

He was so excited to see those pictures and goof off with his friends but instead he spent the entire day in the Library /waiting/, listening to music, doodling crappy sketches of ladybug and chat noir in the margins of his notebook, doodling better but still awful sketches of Alya with little hearts in his science notes (he made room for it, it was his masterpiece), actually studying, eating, and making sure he had all the copies of the homework for his elusive group of friends. All in all it was an incredibly _empty_ day. 

But just because he was in a sour mood didn't mean it was his friends' faults. Alya had gotten so many hits on the Ladyblog the site almost crashed, Adrien wasn't quite sure where he ended up (and his father called him in for an impromptu photo shoot too), Marinette was in the neighbourhood called God-knows-where but then at some point during the afternoon she messaged Alya and Nino that she had to help her parents with a Bakery order. Nino really wanted to call Sabine and Tom to see if they needed more help but decided not to at the last second. 

Just because his friends all but skipped school didn't mean he would suffer in detention with them (which during lunchtime skipping sounded like a great idea.) Although he started to regret his decision to wait for Adrien and co. to appear at school at around halfway through physics, hoping that he'd see at least one of them before he headed home. He was not so lucky. 

Nino sighed as his bag was still too heavy. With the three copies of booklets that he had to give to his friends his bag was overfull and he would break the straps if he had to lug them around all night. 

Instead he took his cellphone and brought up Adrien's locker code and made his way down into the gym, all while mumbling "7-17-27" to himself over and over, to make sure he got it memorized. 

\--//--//--//--//-- 

Ladybug threw her yo-yo with much more force than needed as she soared over the deserted Paris streets. 

_Another full day._ she thought bitterly. _Another full day of school lost._

She huffed as her yo-yo connected to another Paris street light, making her soar way above the roofs and the Parisian skyscraper skyline. 

_Why did we have three Akumas today? Does Hawkmoth not have a day job?_ She wondered as she landed on the roof of her school. 

Cautiously she repelled down, into the courtyard and rushed into the nearest room. 

Slamming her back against the wall she took a moment to catch her breath before the last dot of her earrings depleted. 

She was thankful school was finished, as it was deserted and no one would stay after normal school hours. Besides, there were no clubs after school on Mondays, the one club she needed to look out for was theater on Thursdays and Dare-Kim-to-do-something Thursdays. 

She felt the soothing light wash over her features and she closed her eyes, holding her hands out to catch Tikki. 

"Good job today Marinette! Three in a row is a little more than we are used to." Tikki congratulated after she caught her breath. 

Marinette smile warmly, still panting a little herself. "... I'll make sure to get extra cookies from the bakery." 

Tikki's eyes shimmered like if they were replaced by precious gems. If Marinette was honest with herself Tikki in that moment reminded her of a very expressive cartoon character who just witnessed the item of their desires pass before them. 

Which honestly was probably completely true. Tikki really did _love_ cookies. It was a kind of love Marinette was envious for, since she'd probably never know what that kind of love felt like. 

Tikki had been eating the same food for thousands of years, Marinette didn't know if she loved anything to that point. 

For example, she loved Chat Noir. He was her partner. But if he were with her for more than a week straight she didn't know if she could not _not_ roll her eyes or sigh at him. She loved sowing but her hands would cramp up, the prices for materials keep going up which was frustrating, she'd always lose buttons, sometimes the fabric just _wouldn't_! She loved pancakes and macaroons but to have a diet entirely based on a single food would be impossible. 

Tikki's love for cookies was just overpowering. Which was why Marinette never thought she'd get to that point. 

'I could love Adrien forever though.' She thought with a warm smile as she circulated through the empty halls of the school. 

Marinette had gotten a text from Nino earlier during the day saying that he dropped off her homework in Alya's locker since he was the only one to attend school that day. She felt a little bad for her absence, Nino was always winding up at school alone for some reason in recent months, it must truly be dreadful to keep spending days alone. She didn't know why Adrien wasn't attending school (you would think he wouldn't dare miss a day), but her being Ladybug and Alya being obsessed with her superhero persona were kind of were her fault. 

Marinette reached Alya's locker (it had a huge ladybug sticker on it, you couldn't miss it -- well actually Chloé's locker had an even bigger Ladybug sticker but no one went to Chloé's for exclusive content that wasn't uploaded to the Ladyblog) and her shoulders dropped as she saw the lock. 

"Shoot. Tikki it's her new lock! I don't know the combination to this one." 

Alya's previous lock was plain black with a silver dial in the middle, this new one was red and was directional, so you had to push the middle nob in a specific 4 direction combination, using left, right, up, and down. 

Tikki popped her head out of Marinette's purse and frowned as she too saw the new lock. A cookie still half in her mouth she phased through the locker door. A few seconds later she had Marinette's French homework in her tiny hands and the cookie disappeared, only crumbs remaining on her little red cheeks. 

Marinette giggled as Tikki presented the source material that will become her own personal hell for the next few hours with a flourish and a little delightful "Tada!" 

But Marinette's happiness quickly evaporated as she heard a sharp intake of breath at the end of the hall. 

Marinette spun around on her heel, her arms up and ready by reflex, she could see Tikki phase back through her purse and her homework fell to the floor with a loud thud. 

Marinette relaxed her stance slightly once she saw who it was but the rapid beating in her chest never ceased. 

"Nino.... Um I..." She blabbered as she took in the scene. 

Nino's mouth was open, his left hand was loosely gripping his headphones, his eyes were glued on Marinette (so much so that he wasn't even blinking). 

The most unnerving thing to Marinette was what he was doing with his phone. 

It was brought up to shoulder level and he held it straight up. _He was filming!?_ He wasn't that far away either, only a few meters separated them, so he could definitely have video evidence... Crap. 

"Nino... This isn't what it looks like..." She spoke softly, lowering her fists and taking a few cautious steps forward. She didn't know how people usually reacted to seeing some sort of magical red _thing_ phase through material obstacles but if Nino planned on running she'd be ready to catch him and hoped that his video wasn't long enough to expose her. If it was well... she'd get rid of it... by any means necessary. 

She had broken and lost and tampered with a few phones in her time, what was one more? 

Nino didn't run though. He simply looked from Marinette's purse to her homework presently laying on the floor and up to Marinette's purse where he definitely saw Tikki hide in. 

"Nino... If I can explain will you listen?" 

There was another uncomfortably silent moment between them where no one dared move an inch before Nino cleared his throat and blinked a few times, no doubt reviving his eyeballs from the drought they had just experienced. 

"If you do," he began, uneasy and unsure of what he had seen exactly. "will you tell me the truth or will it be something you just came up with?" 

"What do you want to know?" She asked softly but firmly. She was so nervous and stressed and afraid that she couldn't feel her legs. The only way that she knew she was still standing was the fact that she was still looking straight ahead and not right at the floor. A little voice in the back of her mind told her that maybe her experience with standing straight while flustered when Adrien was around was a good training substitute. 

She, however, was not ready for an encounter like this. Sure she knew it was always a possibility but she had never actually been backed up in a corner this tight before. She began to think that she might not be able to get out of this one... 

"What was that red thing?" He asked, his finger pointing to Marinette's purse. His hand was surprisingly steady, whereas hers weren't... 

"What red thing?" Marinette asked, trying the innocent route first. Denial, denial, denial. Somehow she knew claiming Tikki to be a new plush from Japan wasn't going to work on Nino, he had seen much more than the Gorilla. 

Nino frowned, unimpressed. He turned his phone towards her, showing a still of Tikki holding a cookie in her mouth looking at the locker in question. 

"Want to try that again?" He asked, his tone sounded harsh and quite frankly, insulted. 

It seemed Nino didn't have such a good day at school after all. 

"I... Nino I can't-..."  
And for the first time Marinette had nothing to say. It wasn't that she couldn't say anything she knew her words and her spelling, it wasn't the phonetics that she struggled with at that moment but the simple fact that she couldn't say anything to make it better rendered her speechless.  
As Marinette was at a loss, she heard the soothing voice of Tikki, a little muffled from her purse,

" _Marinette... It's alright. You can tell him. He can know_." 

The breath Marinette held was pushed out of her lungs as relief flooded her. All that stress she had picked up in that moment had been exhaled but then the shear fact that she could talk about _it_ made everything instantly better. 

Nino was mad at her now, yes she regretted that it came to that, but is he going to be mad that she was the Hero of Paris herself? No, no he wouldn't. Probably. Maybe?

She took three steps forwards and grabbed Nino's wrist and before he could protest she tugged him towards the school exit. 

"I'll tell you everything. Just not here." She urged and Nino remained quiet. 

She hated potentially making him more mad but the fact that he didn't fight her hold was an improvement in her books. 

The walk to Marinette's parents' bakery was a silent and uncomfortable one. For Nino his head was swimming, unsure of what exactly resided inside of Marinette's purse. How long has she had this red bug? What else could it do? Was it sentient? Was it a reasoning being or some sort of weird alien space pet-thing? Was it an "it" at all?

As for Marinette, well ....

The calm and collected Marinette was long gone and now she was mostly screaming internally, claiming that her world was ending, that she'd let Nino down which in turn would somehow let Adrien down and that would cause him to never love her and over exaggerating, as per usual. 

Once they reached the entrance of the bakery and the soothing smells of bread and sweets hit them their tensions diminished, it was almost like magic, effective the moment you walked through the door. 

"Maman! Papa! I'm home!" She called out. She released Nino's wrist and called out again. "Nino's here too!" 

Nino tried to keep his features ... plausibly normal in front of Marinette's parents but he couldn't accomplish it as well as he hoped. In fact both Tom and Sabine separately asked him if he was well and if he wanted something to eat something to soothe whatever aches he had. Mr D asked him at the door, and Ms C at the counter. 

He always loved going to Marinette's, not just for Marinette and her awesome sowing skills but also because her parents were literally everyone else's second pair of parents. They were so good at making you feel loved and treasured that you'd swear you were already adopted in the Dupain-Cheng family. The effect is felt by everyone, regardless of age. 

"It's alright Ms C. It's just been a long day." 

Sabine smiled warmly, a feature he saw so often on Marinette, "Well then just remember you are always welcome here." 

There it is, there's the warm parenting feeling right there. 

Nino was so sidetracked that Sabine managed to snatch them both up for another conversation topic. Nino almost forgot that he and Marinette had a pressing major conversation to get to. _Almost._

"It's been such a long time since you've visited! What's the occasion?" 

Marinette tensed up once more. She probably would have talked endlessly about the recent Ladyblog project she was working on, but luckily Nino was quicker on his feet. 

"We have a French project together. We decided to get started as soon as possible." He smiled back. 

Marinette was surprised at how quick Nino had answered, she knew he wasn't lying either. She read her texts and was pleased to actually be in a project with him. She caught herself thinking that he would have made a good miraculous holder himself, if their roles were reversed. Or at least, if he was willing, he could be a great cover for her if the occasion called for it. 

Sabine waved them goodbye and told them to get ready for a good supper later on but they could feel free to take whatever snacks they wanted from the bakery in the meantime. 

Nino saw Marinette grab a handful of macaroons and a bag of cookies, so he too decided to load up on the sweets in front of him before following behind her, towards her bedroom. 

Once safely hidden away from the world and engulfed in a soothing warm pink world, Nino visibly deflated and pivoted towards Marinette faster than you could humanly turn on your heel without breaking it. 

"Ok Spill." 

Marinette jumped as Nino's voice shot through the air and she dropped the trap door as a result of it, which made the both of them jump. 

She took a few seconds to calm her thundering heart before taking a deep breath and standing tall, hands together holding her purse in front of her, her back strong and her knees locked. 

She turned to Nino with a gaze he had never seen on her features before, the usually expressive and bubbly Marinette was completely dead serious in her demeanour, it honestly scared Nino a lot more than he imagined it would. It almost made him drop the croissant in his mouth. _Almost._

"I'll tell you everything under one condition. And you know what that condition is." She took a moment for her words to sink in, to make sure Nino understood the severity of the little red secret she hid in her purse on a daily basis. He nodded, she proceeded. "Not even _Alya_ Nino. She can't know." 

Nino felt uneasy at Marinette's request but nodded nonetheless.  
He wanted to know what that red creature was. How could it phase through actual physical shit. Nino was positive he wasn't hallucinating but how could it be possible. This was bigger than him, it was bigger than a lot of things. 

So if Marinette told him to tell no one, then that was exactly what he was going to do. 

He heard Marinette take another deep breath as she reached over and opened her purse. 

A few seconds later a red thing came flying out of it. It had two little antennas floating behind it's head, a fluffy looking tail thing, large black spots adorning it's body in logical locations, more noticeably on her forehead in between the two biggest blues eyes with dramatically long lashes he'd ever seen. 

It looked like one of those weird plushies you could buy on the international markets, or like from Japan. Like one of those weird talking cats they had on sale a few weeks back that Adrien wanted so badly. 

Except for this one was flying. 

"How... What..?" Nino blubbered as Tikki threw cautious and timed looks to both Nino and Marinette in anticipation of being introduced to someone new for the first time in several hundred years since meeting Marinette. 

"Nino, this is Tikki." She offered her hands as a perch and Tikki flew to them with a warm smile and offered small encouraging taps on Marinette's hands. "She's my Kwami." 

Tikki waved and smiled warmly as she greeted Nino, "Hello Nino." When Nino spluttered various noises Tikki giggled, unable to hold in her bubbling glee at finally meeting someone from Marinette's everyday life.

Nino didn't know where to look. "Tikki" was by the far the most mind baffling thing that Nino had ever seen... That was including those big eyes of hers who were presently looking right at him for some sort of reaction to her existence. 

"What's a uhm, a Kwami?" Nino asked, slowly putting his hands together and ignoring how clammy his palms became. 

"A Kwami is a magical little creature who accords ... Actually I'm not quite sure at a 100% just exactly what she does but uhm... Yea just hold on a minute. This will explain everything." Marinette added nervously. 

Nino was about to ask more questions when Marinette suddenly said: "Tikki spots on!" 

The room was drowned in a bright red light, as well as other hues of the colour, Nino hid behind his cap while wondering what on earth was happening. There wasn't a drastic breeze or even the slightest change of temperature, just an increasingly bright light that didn't actually illuminate anything as the room didn't become any brighter than it should have. 

When the light was gone Nino blinked a few times and looked up. Then he froze in that spot for a while. 

Because before him stood Ladybug. Ladybug with a very _Marinette_ -like sheepish expression. 

"Surprise?" Ladybug asked, her cheeks red with embarrassment and her shoulders pushed forwards in uncertainty. 

Nino couldn't move. How could he? Alya had been hunting down Ladybug's identity since the beginning of school and he _just stumbled upon who it was and had known her since elementary school!_

Nino's gaze slowly fell to the floor as his right hand came up to brush his hair with his fingers, effectively pushing his cap to the ground with a thud. Marinette saw him sway considerably since her transformation so she reached her rolley-chair with her yo-yo and tugged it just in time for Nino to fall in it comfortably.

Marinette may have experience with sudden lightheadedness but Nino definitely didn't, the secret was in the stance. Besides, he needed to find and stalk the love of his life for at least a year before even getting close to Marinette's level. 

Nino took a few moments of silence by just observing her and her room with the softer version of his "surprise face". He looked around her room, starting to notice several secret ladybug things in her room, such as the few akuma inspired clothing sketches, the Ladyblog on her monitor, the numerous detention slips, the ladybug sign on her cookie jar, the cat pillow she had on her bed... Everything was just so right that he started to strongly believe that they are all idiots for not seeing it before. 

A smile slowly invaded his minor surprise, since honestly it just made perfect sense that she'd be Ladybug, and he was pleased to see that Marinette eased up at the sight of his absent anger from before. 

"Marinette? ... Is that you in there?" Nino asked cautiously, taking a step forwards rolling the chair forward. 

"Hello Nino." She greeted, hooking her yo-yo back on her hip and releasing Nino's chair from the hold of her string. 

Then Nino did something she did not expect. 

He got up abruptly, took a few steps forwards and requested a fist bump. 

She shot him the most brilliant smile in answer to his own and met his fist with a whisper of "Bien joué." which had Nino positively buzzing. 

He jumped from one question to another, pacing around her while keeping eye contact and giddy excitement. 

"How did you become Ladybug? Were you chosen? Was it passed on to you? Was Alya right in anything? Was I a hard akuma to fight? How the hell did you keep this from Alya this whole time? I can't keep anything from her and then you keep this hidden away?" He fell to his knees, his hands in prayer. "Teach me your ways." 

Ladybug giggled and shook her head, lifting him up by his elbows in the best casual show of 'show off how strong you are' Nino had ever experienced. 

"I will answer everything you ask. Only you have to keep it to yourself."

Nino nodded. 

They couldn't say much however as Ladybug's yo-yo rang. 

She frowned, why was Chat transformed so early on patrol day? She took a second to laugh at Nino's expression of pure glee before flicking her yo-yo open. 

"Chat, what's the issue?" 

His serious expression immediately put her on edge. Usually Chat is always chipper and ready to go with enthusiasm, a freaking energizer bunny-cat combo. Rare were the times where Chat would be dead serious outside of battle. 

This was one of them. 

"My Lady you won't be happy with this." He said, with an apologetic frown, like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

"Chat... What happened?" 

"Someone... _Knows_."  
Ladybug's eyes opened wide. But it wasn't that Chat's identity that she was scared of, but rather it was the unmistakeable triumphant cry of victory that she heard afterwards. 

Chat sent her a sheepish smile as he moved his baton to face the one and only Alya Césaire herself. 

"I need to call Nino! He's going to freak!" She said as she took out her phone, dialling quickly. 

Hearing his name, Nino rushed forwards and made cutting motions across his neck. "They'll hear!" He whispered as he pointed to his phone. 

Ladybug quickly told Chat to meet her at their usual patrol place before squeezing in a "I really need to go bye!" before closing her compact in time for Nino's ringtone to go off. 

They both sighed in relief when Ladybug closed her yo-yo just in time, she sent him a thumbs up and a wink which he understood was the go ahead to answer Alya. 

"What's clicking good lookin'?" He answered jovially. While Nino spoke with an overexcited Alya, Ladybug decided to try and formulate a plan based on what she knew. 

Both she and Chat had been compromised. She had to think back at where she went wrong, in the process of analyzing her day she took a moment to truly admire Nino's quick reflexes. 

He was able to sneak up on Tikki without really trying, he was able to take photographic evidence just as quietly, he wasn't afraid to face a friend for the truth, he understood the importance of secrecy and now actively helped her keep it. 

Once again Ladybug was surprised at how well Nino was adapting. She wouldn't have even thought that his distinct ringtone might be heard by Chat and Alya, that would have been a trainwreck and a half. It was all avoided because of Nino. 

Alya's call was long enough for Marinette to detransform and manage to do half of her homework. It took Sabine to call them down to diner before Alya conceded and let Nino hang up. 

In a day they both had gotten discovered. She didn't feel particularly lucky at that moment but at least one really good thing happened.  
They now both had someone to confide to. 

And that was something she didn't know she needed until she got the greatest gift that was Nino Lahiffe's friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My gift, to you lovely people

Adrien was never nervous for a photo shoot. Never in his life had he ever been nervous or anxious or scared of going through a photoshoot, unless you didn't count the very first one. 

The angles, the cameras, the lights... They all loved him; to the point where even his slightest movements were for the benefit of the overall picture. 

Adrien Agreste had a natural modelling body, that much he knew. Stress and nervousness just didn't reach him when it came time to model. 

Except for right now. 

"Adrien. Let it go. Your hair looks _fine_!" 

Adrien huffed for the fifth time during that span of thirty minutes. 

"Fine isn't good enough! I can't have a single hair out of place." 

"If it was that easy, then they would have recognized you long ago! One stray hair isn't going to connect you to Chat Noir." 

Adrien sighed once more as his cowlick in the back refused once more to obey the flow of his natural hairline, no matter how much gel or hairspray he would use. He knew that by bad experience... 

He had to go to the Ladyblog shoot at Marinette's in an hour and he was so nervous he was sweating bullets. The shoot itself would take place in the park outside of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, which made him really happy since Marinette said she'd provide lunch, and Adrien would straight up _kill_ for another chance to have one of those quiches. 

He was told he could chose what articles he'd wear but eventually the girls might ask him to wear Chat Noir clothing from the line Marinette worked so hard on. He knew that if Marinette were to ask him, he couldn't refuse her; that's what made him nervous. 

"What are you so afraid of anyways? It's not like you haven't done this a thousand times before." Plagg asked casually gulping down a wedge of camembert down his throat with a satisfied 'gulp' sound. 

"There will be Chat Noir hoodies and hats Plagg. What if they decide to stick a bell on my collar and make me wear cat ears? I'll be recognized for sure."

Plagg made a 'Harumf' sound before rolling on his stomach and flying to hover in front of Adrien's face, mere inches away.

"Then say no." He said simply. 

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Saying no isn't that easy Plagg. Not to Marinette..." Adrien looked to the side to avoid Plagg's snickering cheeky expression. He really hoped Plagg couldn't see his light blush, but knowing how close the little Kwami was to his face he knew he could see it clear as day. 

"Why? Because you like her? I thought you only had a heart for Ladybug?" 

Adrien pouted and turned his face back to stare at Plagg. 

"It's not that! It's just that Marinette never says no to me, so I shouldn't say no to her. It's just manners."

Plagg gave a silent 'uh-huh' before he made a beeline for Adrien's coat pocket saying "You're going to be late." as he zoomed by. 

Adrien nodded as he took his bag and swung it up on his shoulder. 

Adrien zipped up his spring jacket and threw on his blue scarf. Winter had only just ended and he would hate to catch a cold on his way to Marinette's during the last months of school. Everyday was essential to studying in order to pass the finals, or so he was told. Adrien wasn't too worried about the finals but Marinette Alya and Nino were all starting to feel the pressure. 

'I should probably start thinking about attending study sessions...' He thought as he walked out of his room and went down the stairs into his mansion's foyer. 

He walked right past his Father's studio and through the front doors with a small push. 

For the size that they were, the doors were honestly not that heavy. Adrien could blame his training as Chat but he honestly never had an issue opening the massive doors on his own. Nino thought that there was maybe a secret dna encrypted heaviness to them, that they registered Adrien's thumb prints and made the doors lighter for him, and no matter how many times Adrien kept telling him that that kind of technology was impossible, Nino still refused to hear it. Adrien snickered as he remembered Nino's indignant expression, as he did almost everyday since Nino expressed his frustrations. 

Adrien waved to the Gorilla who was ready to go in the car that would bring him to the Bakery. Adrien really wanted to walk there but he knew that it wasn't that far and refusing to take the Gorilla would only make his father furious. 

So he slid into the car and listened to the hum of the engine start and the car pulled him away. 

//--//--//--//--//

Meanwhile in the Dupain-Cheng bakery Alya was at the front lines busting out some major damage control. 

Marinette was in the middle of pulling her hair out when Alya first walked in, insisting that she was going to make a fool of herself or that Adrien wouldn't like the clothes, or that the world just wasn't ready for her style to hit the markets. 

To which Alya just took in the scene for a moment, laughed for a good minute and then got to work with getting Mainette back into one piece. 

Turns out it wasn't that hard to get her to believe that her clothes were fantastic because, in all honesty, they really were. 

As she witnessed Marinette's confidence and drive slowly build up again as the designer added fuel to her own machine, Alya took the time to truly appreciate her friends. 

Her best friend was the best thing that ever happened to the Ladyblog, she dedicated so much time and effort to recreating Ladybug's spots on the most comfortable looking hoodie Alya had ever seen, she also had a black hoodie that she fashioned after Chat Noir complete with ears sown onto the hood and a small bell (without the bead inside to avoid unnecessary noise) and a bright green paw print on the back. Marinette also made various hat accessories that ranged from beanies to scarves. Well, they had bought bulk tons of red and black bare hoodies, basic bare hats and accessories that Marinette personalized with Ladyblog buttons and logos and spots and ears to achieve the desired look. 

Adrien was among the first to offer up his talents and name for the Ladyblog, having tried to steal Ladybug's number one fan title from Alya multiple times. Alya was very grateful to Adrien for volunteering, it saved her the effort to having to ask (and he came with the good Agreste name which was a bonus in the business world.) He even made a joke that he'd wear anything unless there were feathers, Marinette almost had a heart attack right then and there. 

The company Nino managed to strike a deal with printed the Ladyblog logo onto t-shirts, baseball caps, snap bracelets, socks and pins. Even though Nino couldn't be there for the shoot, seeing as he was the personal assistant of a prominent DJ at Kidsplus, that didn't mean she didn't receive encouraging messages that reminded her that he was still full of support to give. 

Alya truly felt blessed. 

And she was so ready to put on some of her merch. She had been eyeing that damn bomber jacket for a week now. 

The back of the jacket was black , including the shoulders, which mimicked Chat's shoulder guards and the front of the jacket was red with Ladybug's signature spots (all in the right places.) What made the jacket so special was the lettering on the sleeve - an elegantly written "Restez Connecté!" in white, which had Alya positively buzzing at the idea of finally putting it on. 

The jacket was bound to be a top seller, in fact they anticipated that the jacket would be the first thing to sell out entirely and thus Alya made the executive decision to start the Hero Fund. The Hero Fund was a way for Paris to show their support for their heroes, to chip in for all the potential shifts or school days that the heroes behind the masks had to miss due to Akuma. A portion of the sales from the bomber jackets went directly to the Hero Fund, which would then be dropped off to Ladybug and Chat Noir any chance Alya had; the idea had been Alya's and for some reason that caused Marinette to nearly cry. 

"Alya I can't wait for you to try these things, I've worked so hard I swear I've pricked all of my fingers at least a dozen times." 

Alya laughed as she grabbed both of her best friend's shoulders. "Marinette, I can't thank you enough for this. But I insist you sign them! Even if it's just on the tag on the inside!" 

Marinette sighed with a smile and conceded. "I'll think about it." 

Alya didn't have time to rejoice in her minor victory since they both heard Tom's voice from downstairs announcing that Adrien had just arrived. 

"Like a bandaid!" She sung as she dragged Marinette down the stairs at breakneck speeds. It wasn't entirely out of the ordinary for Alya to be over excited over something but when it happens, _it really happens_ and that causes an insurmountable surge of energy that Alya needs to use almost just as instantly. It's this fuel that pushes her to be the best Lady blogger in Paris. (Besides they had already taken down all the Agreste magazine clippings off her walls the moment Marinette jumped on the panic train, so there was nothing left to do other than greet the model.)

So in record time, Marinette and Alya found themselves in the centre of the Bakery where stood the bashful prince himself. Alya could easily detect the slight nervous atmosphere but for all she knew it could be Marinette's doing. 

Sabine was being a dear, showing them their lunch for the afternoon and offered to pack some sweets and some drinks, while mostly directing said sweets towards a particular boy they knew was hungry. 

"Merci Sab and Tom! Lunch smells absolutely fantastic!" Alya thanked as she took the basket from them with little side hugs to give to each. Tom just chuckled as he hugged Alya, saying: "It's the least we could do to show our support for Paris' leading Lady blogger!" 

Alya smiled brightly and proudly as she nodded. "And the Ladyblog is very grateful for your support." She said in her _journalistic_ voice. 

Alya just knew that Marinette's parents would be the first to lend a hand. They were like everyone's second set of parents sometimes. 

They all spoke for a while more before the distinct silhouette of the photographer appeared, it was the same man who usually took pictures for the college. That was all thanks to Adrien; he had asked the man fifteen times, unofficially, if he would do the honours of taking the very first pictures of a budding new online merch launch for the Ladyblog. The photographer gave in eventually and once he saw what the clothes they would model looked like, it was a piece of cake. 

The concept Alya had in mind was that the only "professional picture" would be the one announcing the collection, and the header of the page. All other pictures would be taken in Marinette's room and taken by one of them, much like most of the Ladyblog's content was shot by an "amateur". It was to promote the idea of young businesses being owned and maintained by young people. 

Not that Marinette was going to become a sweatshop owner or anything, no. They had taken advice from various YouTube personalities about managing their merchandise and Alya found that their method was easier, well easier than turning Marinette's room into a production zone. 

There was no way anyone would have adopted the sweatshop idea. However the downside of their chosen method was that Marinette had to make most of the first samples as well as the few first orders and send over the official versions of all articles (as well as the procedures required to reach the desired look) in time for mass production. 

It just so happened that the daughter of the company's leadership was akumatized and so they felt like they owed Ladybug and Chat Noir. Ladybug insisted that they didn't need to be rewarded or anything like that at the time so when the word got out for sponsors for the Ladyblog Online Store, well the company jumped on it.

Alya decided to split the initial profits with Marinette, as well as offer discounts to past Akuma victims and to their immediate families as well as "manufacturable discounts" to be distributed to the people involved with the store (which included but not limited to Nino, Sabine, Tom, Marinette and Adrien.) 

Alya was practically buzzing when Marinette handed her the bomber jacket, she had to resist the urge to let her grabby hands show. 

Once the jacket was in her hands, she quickly flipped it over and marvelled at the details and quality.   
The jacket had the Ladyblog logo on the left collarbone, small pockets on the sleeves and another two which mimicked the same ones Chat had on his suit. 

The jacket was a perfect blend of both Ladybug and Chat Noir, and the added "Restez Connecté!" stitched onto the right sleeve was a great touch. 

Alya barely had time to stop drooling before she quickly swung the jacket around and put her arms through the sleeves. The jacket wasn't heavy, but it didn't feel cheap either. The quality would suggest that it was water proof, which pleased her greatly. 

How was she supposed to capture footage in the rain if her official merch wouldn't keep her warm and dry? Of course such quality came with a price, a price Alya was more than willing to pay - which she nearly fell out of her chair due to excitement when she got the receipt in her inbox. 

Alya couldn't stop her giant smile, and as she looked over her shoulder she laughed even harder once she noticed Adrien was having the same issue. 

The poor boy had small tears in his eyes as he hugged himself while wearing the Ladybug t-shirt. The shirt seemed to hug him in all the right places, ending right above his belt. He wore the other estimated biggest seller, the shirt everyone expected the Ladyblog to sell and another contributor to the Hero Fund. 

Heck, the only thing that made that shirt different from all the shirts on etsy or eBay was the Ladyblog logo and the "Restez Connecté" tagline that was written on the seam inside of the shirt. 

Marinette handed Adrien the LB beanie with a blush, he tried to calm his heart eyes as he held the hat in his hands and Alya smiled brightly when Marinette handed her the SnapBack, which had a black pallet and a red cap with black spots. 

They were ready. The photographer smiled as he directed Alya and Adrien into the starting positions. 

Alya was ready and she smiled devilishly when she noticed Marinette's blush. 

No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she wasn't going to tease Marinette about Adrien that day, it didn't mean she couldn't get Adrien to get his moves on to sell Chat Noir stuff... 

//--//--//--//

Alya woke up the next day in such a good mood. The photo shoot had gone swimmingly, and the merchandise photo shoot went even better. 

Adrien did exactly what she had hoped, he had flexed in an air that was so very _Chat Noir_ and even kissed Marinette's knuckles (without needing Alya to prompt him). Alya chuckled as she sent the pictures she had taken over to Nino that very day at around twelve at night. Adrien had the rest and he promised he'd send them as soon as he was able. 

Alya rolled out of bed and didn't think twice about what she'd wear that day, her hand falling on the increasingly familiar fabric of her bomber jacket. It didn't matter that the temperature was slowly rising, she would wear that jacket for as long as she could before the weather would absolutely forbid it. 

She could still smell the distinct aroma of the quiches they had for lunch that day. Alya could only smile wider. 

Alya was genuinely excited for the day before her. She was going to go full "marketer" on everyone she met and she was going to show off the official merch for her blog. She was going to take her first steps as the the official (praised and endorsed by) Ladybug and Chat Noir Online Store, heck she already had a waiting list for all of her classmates! 

It was bound to be a fantastic day!   
Alya rearranged her collar, took her phone and her charger and walked out of her room with determination. 

//--//--//--//

Her day was, arguably, both awful and fantastic. 

It was amazing since Ladybug herself permitted a selfie with Alya and Chat which was bound to go on the front page of her blog. She even commented on the craftsmanship of her bomber jacket, which Alya wasted no time praising Marinette for. 

But the day was awful for the same reason, there had been three akumas. Alya was hungry, exhausted, had a few bruises throughout the day that were cured by the miraculous Ladybug -- but that didn't mean that she wouldn't be sore the next day. Alya had missed an entire day of school, couldn't even spare a moment to catch up with Nino and let him know every single detail on the events that happened at the Bakery photo shoot and she generally felt like shit about the whole thing. 

She had promised Nino. And even if he didn't ever hold it against her she still felt shitty down to her core for breaking her word. 

'Just one more clip!' She told herself again and again. One more clip became five, five became ten, ten became twenty and next thing she knew she had taken the entire day to run around following Ladybug and Chat Noir. 

Case and point: Alya felt like she was the worst girlfriend possible. 

She sighed harshly as she uploaded the last video, crumbled on the park bench in the downtown Paris core. Rubbing the bridge of her nose as she looked at the upload bar fill in slowly. She was thankful Paris had installed a few charging stations, since her phone was near death at least twice through out the day. 

She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the cars honking all around her. She whipped her head up at the last possible second to see a small car flip on the sidewalk and start slipping towards her. She felt all of her adrenaline rush through her veins as her eyes bulged open and a scream was chocked out of her lungs. 

She felt something grab the back of her jacket and tug upwards and the next thing she knew she was airborne and the scent of leather and something else invaded all of her senses. 

Befuddled she looked around, mainly following her nose to the source of the smell, her eyes catching a few Parisians clapping in applause. 

She heard grunting and huffing as she and her saviour landed on the roof of the adjacent building in record time. 

All the evidence pointed to one person. 

"Well Miss Césaire, you might be in the headlines tomorrow after all." Alya smiled and turned to face the cat. His grin was iconic and she had a close up view!! He dipped his head towards her as he set her down. "/Chat Noir saves Paris' number one Ladyblogger./" 

Alya laughed at the bow Chat performed shortly after her feet touched the roof, safe and sound.   
"I thank you Chat Noir." She replied honestly. "Being squished would have been a terrible way to end the day." She thanked him while rubbing the dust off of her jacket, glad to see that Chat's claws didn't manage to breach her new jacket (although she wouldn't have complained, considering that major injuries or death were her other alternatives.) 

Chat smiled as he flicked the small bell on the jacket's zipper, "I like this addition, but it's not as big as mine, though." He added with a grin, pushing his chest out like a preening bird. 

Alya simply laughed and took a quick picture once he allowed it. Her phone could never have too many pictures of their heroes, at least both she and Chloé agreed on that. 

It wasn't long before Chat's ring started beeping, he bid her farewell once he dropped her down in the streets and gave her his signature two finger salute. 

Now Alya tried to mind her own business, she truly did, but there was a voice in the back of her mind that kept pushing. She knew it was wrong but her gut was still screaming that she should still try to figure out who Chat Noir and Ladybug were. Not for the blog but rather to satisfy her insatiable thirst for mysteries. But Marinette, Adrien and Nino convinced her that she should let it go, nothing good ever comes out of forcing someone to out themselves. 

So when she saw Chat Noir rush into an alley and was soon tailed by that other _nosy reporter that she knew worked for the tabloids_ follow him she felt a flare of anger surge through her bones. She followed the mystery for personal reasons, to help hone her craft and skills. _He did it for money and wanted to exploit them_. 

Alya may not know who Chat Noir was but he had just saved her life, as he always did when she was in danger. In fact she could count on her fingers how many times he and Ladybug had saved her that very same day. 

So with a surge of anger and journalistic rage she pushed forwards and let the nastiest words come out of her mouth,

 _"Hé le putain! Tu penses faire quoi avec ton petit mognion d'une caméra!? Prendre des photos embrouillé, complètement innutiles et ridicule!"_ She grinned once she recognized him, that one in particular was a proud one. So the slightest insults really ruffled his feathers. 

The reporter turned on his heels and shot Alya the meanest glare he could (probably) which wasn't very deterring. 

"Excuse you! My work is nothing other than the best in Paris! At least I get a pay check for being out here and I'll have you know that my biggest bonus" he said as he pointed to the alley, "is _not getting away_!"

Some bystanders gasped at the words that left the man's mouth. Either because he outted himself as garbage or they knew that Alya Césaire wasn't to be crossed. 

'Is that how you see them...' She seethed silently, cracking her neck from side to side. 

Alya squared her sights on him in a glare that would have made Chloé back up a few steps. No one messes with Alya or her city's heroes. In three strides she blocked the photographer's shot, walking right into the cameras sights as the flash of both Chat and the camera went off. 

Chat didn't have anywhere to go really, so he was at their mercy. You could imagine his panic when the tabloid man cornered him. He had thought of scaling the walls, in order to hop into a window or something but he, of course he did, picked the worst alley way in existence as there was nothing but dumpsters and dead ends. Not a single window on the brick wall was found. He was weak in the knees when he saw Alya literally take the shot for him, both relieved and scared of the outcome of what was about to happen. 

Alya proceeded to have a shouting match with the tabloid man which permitted some time for Plagg to seriously start munching his Camembert. 

However it wasn't enough time. 

The tabloid man started getting rowdy and was trying to push past Alya, almost managed to trip her, which caused her upper body to twist sideways - which gave her the clearest view of _who was standing where Chat Noir should be standing_!

She only had a brief glance but she knew who she saw. And that was enough to fight dirty to protect him. 

As Alya swung back around, she lined up a punch and knocked the photographer's camera right out of his hands. He yelped and proceeded to yell much louder, claiming to have been assaulted and that he would press charges. Alya made a show of opening her arms wide and directing his attention to the amassing crowd around them, all of which had their phones out and were booing the man. Alya was a beloved blogger after all so it was easy to see who the crowd was going to support. 

"Take a look around yourself asshole! I acted out of self defence!" 

He took a step forward and was so close to Alya that she could feel his breath huffing on her skin, but she faced down akumas before -- this man didn't scare her. So when he approached her too closely she put out her hand and stopped his advance.   
"Self defence? I don't think so! This is sabotage."

She laughed heartily, as if he told the joke of the century. "This is _harassment_ " she spat. "Let me tell you this one more time, _imbécile_! They are our heroes and they don't deserve to be blackmailed by the likes of _you_!" 

Now Alya needed to put credit where credit was due, the man knew he had lost the battle, there were too many witnesses and the tabloids already got enough flak due to their paparazzi reputation already. So when the man slunk back to whatever hole he crawled out of Alya stood proudly, waving to cameras and phones of the four or five invested bystanders that saw the entire ordeal. 

Before Alya could do anything else she felt someone pick her up and next thing she knew she was airborne, with a certain snickering cat claiming she had claws almost as sharp as his own. 

"Oh my god Adrien." She snickered, and took another picture for good measure. At least the cat was a little bashful in the picture. 

\---//---

He thought he was a goner. He was ready to apologize profusely to Ladybug and everyone else that he had been lying to all of them. His only thought was how he let everyone down. 

But then an angel in the skin of Alya Césaire arrived, glorious punching skills and all. 

Adrien had been exhausted due to the day's akuma heavy presence, three akumas was highly uncommon. He was surprised the blogger stuck around for the whole time. 

'Well if you already skipped the morning you might as well skip the afternoon.' He supposed as he continued to vault through Paris behind his Lady. 

That was at noon. It felt like such a long time ago compared to the time it was presently, which was very _late_. And boy was he hungry. 

He landed on a random roof somewhere and put down an overexcited Alya down softly before rubbing his face in relief. 

He was so close to have been exposed. 

Well... exposed to the world. 

Alya had started excitedly jumbling words together around him, stuff like "oh now it all makes sense! The lateness, your bladder problem, _your crush on Ladybug_!!"

He felt the need to intersect that particular exclamation.   
"I don't _just_ have a crush on my Lady, Alya." 

Once she heard him speak she turned to him, eyes wide with a smile that quickly invaded half of her features. It was refreshing to see her so psyched and happy over something. 

But then again he had to make sure that he was safe. 

He walked over to her, put both his hands on her shoulders and tried to stop his smile I order for his game-face to show. 

It didn't work.   
He was so relieved he finally had someone to talk to, someone to confide in! _Someone who knew almost everything he tried to hide and yet could only jump and smile at how pleased she was._ Alya had been someone who Adrien had lied to multiple times on a daily basis due to his nightly leather-bound activities. He only hoped that his Lady would have a similar reaction once she would know as well. 

Adrien swallowed the urge to just grab and hug the blogger before him, and started to push words out.   
"Alya, listen to me... I need you to swear that you won't tell anyone." Alya nodded a little glum, she knew of course that she wouldn't sell him out but he needed her word for something like this. "You have my word Adrien. I won't tell a soul." 

Chat smiled and gave her a slight nod. "Then I can answer any questions you have-" he raised his hands as she audibly squealed. "but not now. First I need to tell Ladybug I've been compromised then we need to get our French homework." Chat had a moment of realization as he snapped his fingers. "I can tell Nathalie I was with you after school!" 

Alya smiled as she crossed her arms. "Not even a half hour since I discover who hides in plain sight wearing magical cat leather and he is already using me as an alibi." She tilted her head to the side, almost teasing, "I know I need to condone liars, as a person with morals and as the best friend of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but I'd gladly cover for you by any means necessary." 

"Thank you Alya. You don't know how much this means to me." Chat smiled while unconsciously grabbing his baton and raising it to his sights. Alya shrugged and claimed that it was the least she could do. 

"Alright... now to tell Ladybug..." he whispered. 

There was a major difference of atmosphere as Chat came to realize that he had to tell his partner that he essentially _failed_. 

He didn't notice he had been starring at his staff for more than a few seconds until a warm hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality, he lifted his gaze and met Alya's. She had a kind smile, almost as if she was trying to tell him that everything would be alright. 

He hoped she was right. He sighed and before he could put it off, flicked his baton open and called his Lady. 

There was the expected rings, as was usual since there was no guarantee his Lady was transformed, but it was worth a try. In retrospect Chat should have really told Alya that he had to ease Ladybug into the idea that he was exposed but at the sight of Alya positively buzzing and -- oh dear she's not going to last long if Ladybug actually answ--

There she was, blue eyes readying his features like an open book. He supposed he didn't look like his usual self at that moment considering how concerned she looked after but a second of contact with him.   
"Chat, what's the issue?" She asked, her concern warming his heart. 

"My lady you won't be happy with this." He said, with an apologetic frown. 'Please don't be mad please don't be mad' He repeated in his mind over and over. 

"Chat... What happened?" 

 

He took one look at Alya and   
"Someone... _Knows_."   
Ladybug's eyes opened wide at the sound of Alya's whooping. He knew that she recognized the voice that had exploded but decided to turn his staff towards Alya anyways. 

It seemed that in that moment Alya came to a very sudden and very important realization, as she had paused in her jumping momentarily and her hands shot towards her pocket where her phone was. 

"I need to call Nino! He's going to freak!" She practically screamed out as she brought the phone to her ear. 

Ladybug blurted some words out quickly before she hung up, which was alright with Chat. They had patrol that night so he'd be able to explain everything that happened then.

"'What's clicking good looking?' Babe I think Adrien is running off on you." Alya chastised with a smile, which in turn made Chat smile. 

He couldn't help but feel warm inside, warm and welcomed. Because he finally had someone to talk to. 

He could finally prove that _he_ was the _ultimate_ Ladybug fan. 

In retrospect he always thought he would be more afraid at the concept of being compromised. The idea always held some fear, as it was an unknown circumstance of uncontrolled variables with undetermined side effects that was bound to happen -- and with his luck he knew it was only a matter of time. 

So to hear Alya firmly tell Nino that under no circumstance was she going to reveal who Chat Noir was, well...

Adrien couldn't help but tear up a little. He had always hoped that his identity would be revealed to Ladybug first, then accidents would happen but given the situation he found himself in he couldnt find it in him to complain. 

After all, he had the most dedicated blogger in all of Paris protect all of his personas. 

Chat always had Ladybug, Adrien always had Nino. But Adrien and Chat? They'd always have Alya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't remember how to center text but I'll figure that out later.
> 
> IT'S CHRISTMAS!  
> IF you don't celebrate Christmas well then enjoy the time off and have a great Holiday! We've all earned a little R&R after the shit year we've had.   
> Also send your love to Carrie Fisher. 
> 
>  
> 
> I will do the corrections once I can.

**Author's Note:**

> I hopped on the Nino hype train within a week of watching the show. so Of Course I'd dedicate the first chapter of the prequel to him :D
> 
> A little backstory to this prequel, I actually started working on it right after I posted chapter 4 of Faded and it remained on my back burner for a long time before I abandoned it completely. Then I pretty much stopped writing which was awful. I'm slowly getting back into it so don't expect an update tomorrow or anything but I did actually start the second chapter before I felt comfortable posting the first and I'll try to keep that system going, seeing as it offers me some sort of buffer zone. 
> 
> This story won't be as gritty and dark as Faded but there will be moments of dread, (If you've read and remembered [somehow] the events of Faded then you know there's a certain dream Marinette has before the events of Faded take place. This story will include this and how Marinette reacts to it.) So if you came for angst, don't you worry, you'll get some. 
> 
> It feels good to be back and I hope you enjoy it!


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